Photo Journal: Butterfly breather

Chestnut tiger butterflies hover gracefully around messerschmidia sibirica flowers in the village of Himeshima in Oita Prefecture, on May 18, 2017. It is thought that the butterflies travel more than 1,000 kilometers -- and are only stopping off in this village for a temporary breather. When their wings are fully spread out, these chestnut tiger butterflies are approximately 10 centimeters in size, making them larger than the average butterfly. It is believed that they will fly off again, in a northward direction, by around mid-June. (Mainichi)